


Nothing Gold Can Stay

by Dauntless_Shadow



Series: so dawn goes down to day [1]
Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Angst, Cancer, Character Death, Heavy Angst, I Made Myself Cry, M/M, Minor Character Death, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, Trans Albert DaSilva, Trans Racetrack Higgins, there’s a possibility you’ll cry too
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-08
Updated: 2020-12-08
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:42:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27961715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dauntless_Shadow/pseuds/Dauntless_Shadow
Summary: Race has cancer. Finch died from cancer two years before this. Spot is sad. This is kinda depressing, not gonna lie.
Relationships: Albert DaSilva/Finch (Newsies), Jack Kelly/Katherine Plumber Pulitzer, JoJo/Mike (Newsies), Romeo/Specs (Newsies), Spot Conlon/Racetrack Higgins
Series: so dawn goes down to day [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2047853
Comments: 9
Kudos: 20





	Nothing Gold Can Stay

They should have been opening presents at Katherine and Jack’s, just like they did every Christmas. Every Christmas until now. Instead of laughing at stupid stuff their friends had got, they were in the hospital, Spot sitting at Race’s bedside. They should be with their friends, not despairing over what might happen if the chemotherapy doesn’t work.

Spot’s seen what cancer can do to a person. How could he not, after seeing Finch struggling for breath in his final days. After witnessing cancer snuff out Finch’s life. Spot had seen what it did to the victim’s loved ones as well. Albert hadn’t been the same since. 

They’re not the only ones who’ve skipped out on the Christmas party. Romeo and Specs are in the Philippines, and Albert’s visiting Finch’s grave with Laura. Smalls and Sniper are in Florida, and JoJo’s visiting

Brooklyn comes into the room, holding a small box. Spot smiles at her. She doesn’t deserve this. She’s 13 years old, she doesn’t deserve to be in fear for her father’s life. Brooklyn sits down next to Spot. They sit in silence, waiting for Race to wake up.

As he looks at his husband, Spot is again reminded of Finch. Finch, who left behind a husband and a daughter. Spot’s memories of the last time he saw Finch are crystal clear. Some days he wishes they weren’t. Then he remembers that if he didn’t remember, it would just hurt more.

The two of them had been talking about what they should do for April Fool’s Day with Katherine. Ignoring the fact that Finch likely wouldn’t be alive by then. By the time Spot left, they had an elaborate plan for pranking Race, Albert, and Jack.

The next day, Spot came home from work only to see Race and Brooklyn both crying. Race had handed Spot his phone, tears streaming down his face.

Spot knew what was coming. That didn’t soften the blow of seeing a message from Albert. Three simple words. ‘Finch is dead.’

That was two years ago. Albert hasn’t stopped grieving. He still visits Finch’s grave once a month. 

Spot should be grateful. Him and Race have been together since college, they’ve had plenty of time. It still doesn’t seem like enough. They won’t get to grow old together. Race won’t be there when Brooklyn graduates. There’s so much more places Race should get to see, so many more foods he should get to learn to make. There’s so many more songs he should get to dance to. 

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

They had been good friends since they were 13, but Spot never saw Race as more than a friend until their freshman year of college. 

Someone had thrown a party, Spot didn’t remember who. All that had mattered to him was that Race was at that party. 

He remembers impulsively kissing Race in the middle of the dance floor, shocked and thrilled when Race kissed him back. 

By junior year, they were living together. They moved into an apartment next to Jack and Katherine’s. Soon Albert and Finch moved in across the hall, followed by many of their other friends moving into the same apartment building.

2 years after graduating, Spot proposed. His memories of the day leading up to the proposal are filled with worry and anticipation. Still, it was all worth it when Race said yes.

He and Race talked a lot about having kids. More importantly, how. They could have gotten a surrogate, or Race could have carried the baby, or they could have adopted.

Eventually, they decided on Race carrying the baby, and 9 months later Brooklyn was born (yes, Spot named her.) 

The group of newsies were growing quickly, thanks to the influx of babies. Corey and Stephanie Kelly, Julia Samuels (Specs didn’t let Romeo name her Juliet), Caroline De La Guerra, and Laura Cortes-DaSilva.

Needless to say, their gatherings got a lot more interesting with infants everywhere. The time Caroline got her head stuck in a stairway is still told on her birthday every single year. 

The children grew up, Brooklyn and Laura becoming as close as Race and Albert had been. For a good decade, they and their friends were all happy. Then in 2017, Finch was diagnosed with brain cancer. Their friend group had a lot of trouble processing it to say the least. 

It affected Race more than he admitted. Spot knew it was hurting Race to see Albert in such pain. Little did they know that two years later, Spot would be the one in Albert’s shoes.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

“How’d you cope with it? Finch dying, I mean.”

Albert stared into his coffee cup. What seemed like an eternity passed before Albert answered. “I honestly don’t know. One day he was there, and the next day...he was gone. Before he died though… he had this one poem that he used to quote all the time, don’t remember who wrote it though. Nothing gold can stay…”

“Robert Frost?”

“Yeah, that’s the one. Anyway, in the week before he died, he kept that poem right near him, read it every day. He told me to read it. Since then, I’ve been reading it once a day. Keeps me sane.”

Spot nodded. He couldn’t shake the feeling that Race’s time was almost up. Couldn’t bear it. But he had to stay strong, for Race, for Brooklyn. “I’m worried about her.”

Albert looked up. “Who? Brooklyn?”

“Yeah. She ain’t been doing well in school lately. Gets into fights, argues with the teachers. She’s not taking Race being sick so well.”

Albert gave a bitter laugh. “I don’t blame her.”

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Race died the next day. 

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

The last two weeks had gone by in a blur. Race was gone. No, he couldn’t be gone. Any moment, he’d come running up to Spot, blabbering on excitedly about what had happened at work. He’d dance around their living room with Brooklyn, their dog, Crouton, running around with them.

But he didn’t come up to Spot, he didn’t dance with Brooklyn.

Race was gone.

**Author's Note:**

> I welcome feedback. Feel free to yell at me on the comments.
> 
> You can find me on Tumblr @waiting-makes-me-antsy


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